70 HOMK TREATMENT AND 



for general distribution and use. As a rule, no 

 child uses an eraser until at first moistening the 

 rubber so as to strengthen and assist its action. 

 Moreover, rubber is most pleasant in the mouth, 

 and the specimens gave ample evidence of the 

 fact that the children appreciated them ! E^ 

 more than pen and pencil would this rul^er hold 

 and spread infection, for any disease germs would 

 be bitten into its surface so that they might linger 

 in it for months or years, especially in a practi- 

 cally air-tight box. On inquiry, I find that 

 distribution of india-rubber erasers is carried out 

 in schools on the same lines as the distribution 

 of pens and pencils. 



Books. Under the same dangerous category comes the 



general distribution of books to the pupils in 

 some of our schools. When books have ser 

 one session, even when well worn and marked, 

 it is the rule to pass them on to the next comer, 

 the original owner having perhaps passed into a 

 higher class to take up a similar legacy. This 

 succession goes on in spite of infectious cases 

 having arisen. I know an instance in which the 

 daughter of a fellow-worker in Dr. Barnardo's 

 Homes was sent to a large public school from 

 a home where there were many children, yet 

 where there had not been an infectious case of 

 any disease for years. After she had been some 

 months there diphtheria broke out in the school, 



